


Winter Wonderland

by TheTeaIsAddictive



Series: The Beauty of a Beast [16]
Category: Beauty and the Beast (1991)
Genre: Clarisse is a delight and a holy terror all rolled up into one, Family, Gen, Ice Skating, accurate description of most of the nine-year-olds i know, funtimes in the snow
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-10
Updated: 2016-06-10
Packaged: 2018-07-14 07:05:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 996
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7158839
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheTeaIsAddictive/pseuds/TheTeaIsAddictive
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Adam needs to get on with his work, but his daughter has other ideas.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Winter Wonderland

**Winter Wonderland**

"Papa?"

Adam de Basque turned from the small mountain of paperwork Cogsworth had given him this morning, massaging the small crick in his neck, to see the stubbornly hopeful face of Clarisse Therêse, his oldest child, holding a small pair of ice skates in her hand. Her flaming red hair, several shades lighter than his own, was painstakingly pinned up out of her face, and she had already changed into her dark blue winter cloak, lined with lambs wool. 

"Papa, it's finished snowing," she announced, "and you promised that once it had finished snowing you would take me outside and teach me to skate." She blinked a couple of times, as if re-enforcing the statement, although Adam also suspected it was because she already knew at the tender age of nine that her deep brown eyes, so like her mother's, were capable of great influence. 

"So I did, Clarisse," Adam agreed, "so I did, but I need to finish sorting out these taxes Cogsworth gave me this morning. It won't take long, and I'll come out with you as soon as they're done, alright?" The decline, far from bringing his daughter down, merely seemed to stiffen her resolve, and she chewed on her lip contemplatively as Adam picked up the quill again. 

"Mama says that everybody needs a break from doing work on paper after an hour," Clarisse piped up again after a minute. 

"Mama is very wise," Adam said, "but I really do need to get this done, and it won't take much longer. It definitely won't take an hour." This was a blatant lie, and Clarisse could tell, but once again her father's attention was on the pieces of paper, and he'd _promised_ to take her out. She decided to try one last time. 

"Papa?"

"Yes, Clarisse?" Adam asked with barely concealed irritation. 

"Would the taxes be done quicker if I helped you? _You_ said divide and conquer was the best strateg-eg-gy," Clarisse argued, stumbling slightly over the word, "and I've gotten much better at numbers since you last saw me."

Adam sighed in resignation. His daughter was as stubborn as he was, as both parents had learned from bitter experience - and besides, getting Clarisse more involved in the mechanics of the throne could hardly be a bad thing. He pushed back his chair slightly and patted his knee, and with a sparkling smile the redhead clambered up, settling herself quickly with crossed hands, before looking at Adam for guidance. 

"I can get the boring things done if you let me know when I'm running out of ink, or I've put a number in the wrong column, alright?" he said, poking her gently in the stomach. 

"Alright, papa!" Clarisse smiled, and the two set to work, Adam writing and Clarisse mumbling a song quietly. In next to no time the paperwork was finished, and the girl bounced around the floor, begging, "Can we go now, papa? Please can we go now? It won't be long before it starts to snow again and you _promised_ you'd teach me!"

"Yes, Clarisse, yes, we're going right now, I just need to find my skates!" Adam laughed, as he swung his little girl effortlessly over his shoulders and ran down the stairs, Clarisse shrieking with laughter. Ten short minutes later, they were outside in the bitter cold, at the lake where Belle had skated with him the very first Christmas they spent together, back when he was still the Beast. 

"Now, you have to be careful, Clarisse," he started. "If you go too fast, you'll fall straight over, and we don't want that, do we?" He grinned at her, and she grinned back. Adam pulled his daughter up by her hands from the bank she was sitting on, and slowly guided her along. "Feet a bit closer together," he instructed, and obediently Clarisse moved so they were shoulder width apart. A small peal of laughter emerged, and as Adam continued skating backwards, deftly turning so he didn't crash into the bank, Clarisse's confidence grew, so much that when she spotted Belle walking towards them with Louis beside her, Clarisse felt safe enough to lift an arm and wave at her mother and little brother. 

On an impulse, Adam lifted his daughter up and spun her in the air, like she often begged him to do if they danced, turning on the spot so that both their cloaks billowed out in the air. He put her down gently, and the rosiness of her cheeks almost matched the colour of her hair. Belle applauded, smacking her gloves together, as Louis laughed insensibly and Clarisse begged, "Again, papa, again!"

"Don't you want to help Louis learn as well?" he asked. 

"I thought you said you wanted to wait until he was nine as well?" Clarisse pouted. 

"I did," Adam admitted, "but I think you're such a good teacher you could help him right away. Just be careful and don't go too fast with him!" he called out as she glided to the other side of the lake. 

Adam slipped back into his normal shoes as Belle trudged around to meet him at the bench. 

"Did you actually get the paperwork finished?" she asked only half-teasingly. 

"No, but I can always do it later," Adam admitted. "This, on the other hand, only happens a few times before they tire of us."

"Isn't it true?" Belle mused. "Luckily that won't happen for another few years, if we're lucky," she smiled brightly. "Especially since this family is still growing."

It took Adam a minute to realise what his wife had just said. "You mean -"

"Yes," she grinned, wildly entertained by the look of astonishment on her husband's face. "We're having another baby."

"I guess winter really is the best time of year for us," Adam spluttered, a distracted grin on his face. 

"Seems like it," Belle rejoined. "Now, come on. If Clarisse spins Louis around any more he's going to be sick."

**Author's Note:**

> Originally posted 16/10/2013 on ff.net


End file.
